Motor racing-Stepney calm after meeting Italy magistrate

MILAN Feb 18 Former Ferrari engineer Nigel
Stepney told reporters he was "very calm" after being
interviewed on Monday by an Italian magistrate probing last
year's Formula One spying scandal.

The Briton, sacked by Ferrari, is accused of supplying
technical information about the Italian team to McLaren chief
designer Mike Coughlan, who is now suspended.

McLaren were stripped of their 2007 constructors' points and
fined $100 million in September by the International Automobile
Federation (FIA) but legal probes into the controversy continue,
with Modena prosecutor Giuseppe Tibis weighing up the evidence.

Tibis said Stepney had been "collaborative and thorough".

Stepney's lawyer Sonia Bartolini said her client did have
contact with Coughlan but had denied passing on the information.
She told reporters other people have not been investigated
enough in the affair.

World champions Ferrari have also accused Stepney of
attempted sabotage after a mysterious white powder was allegedly
found around the fuel caps of their cars before the Monaco Grand
Prix in May last year.

McLaren bosses, including team principal Ron Dennis, were
also due to meet with Tibis on Monday but their appearance has
been postponed to another date.

Tibis has already interviewed McLaren's former driver
Fernando Alonso, the double world champion who left for Renault
in December, and Spanish test driver Pedro de la Rosa.